Somewhere Else
by Animal Arithmetic
Summary: Twoshot AUish Somewhat Angsty. What if, Naruto had brought Sasuke back? How different would things be?
1. Somewhere Else

**A/N:** This came to me in a dream... Blame my allergy medication. Blah. Also, there is slight Kakashi-bashing, but it is necessary! I like Kakashi, but that's just how it goes. Eh... If you want a second part to this, for when he comes back, I'll write it. I have an idea for one, anyway.

* * *

It had been a few weeks since Sasuke had tried to go to Orochimaru and Naruto had brought him back. Both had been in the hospital in those short few weeks, and Sasuke had just woken up from his coma. When that had happened, Sakura went straight to his hospital room and completely ignored Naruto. Even Kakashi seemed to stop visiting Naruto (as if he rarely did anyway) and went to visit his other student. It had been a week since the almost traitor had woken up, and Naruto had not had any visitors.

It showed with the dying flower.

"Hey, brat."

"Ero-sennin."

Said man gave the boy a confused look. "What's with you, squirt? Aren't you happy that you brought Sasuke back?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know... I was kind of hoping Sakura would thank me or something... But she hasn't and everyone is ignoring me." His fists clenched at his sides and his eyes shut tightly to block out the unwanted tears. He could not show weakness in front of the sannin. "Is there a reason you are here?"

"I was wondering if you would like to train for two and a half years with me," Jiraiya replied, still sitting on the windowsill. "Get out of Konoha, you know?"

The blond thought about it for a moment, staring at his still bandaged arms. "When would we leave?"

"I have a few things to take care of, so maybe a month."

A slight nod was his silent reply.

"Great." Jiraiya stood up and walked closer to the bed. "I already told Tsunade that you wanted to go."

"You mean you hadn't asked him yet?"

"GAH! Tsunade-hime! Wha-What are you doing here?"

"...I work here."

Jiraiya looked away for a moment, looking sheepish. "...I knew that."

Tsunade rolled her eyes at her former teammate before turning to Naruto. "I'm sorry I haven't been around. With all this Sasuke business-"

"It's all right," Naruto interrupted her, waving a hand carelessly. "Really. It's fine. It doesn't matter."

Tsunade and Jiraiya stood silently for a moment, waiting for someone else to say something. After a few- awkward- moments, the doctor spoke up.

"You will be able to leave tomorrow." When the boy did not respond, she tried a different tactic. "Are you excited about going with Jiraiya to train?"

Naruto nodded, a grin adorning his face, making him seem more like himself. "Yeah! I can't wait for next month. I'll finally get some one-on-one time with a sensei!"

"Training for the Chuunin exams didn't count?"

"Pfft! No! You told me to do something and left me to my own devices."

"Your point?"

Blue eyes rolled skyward at the remark. "Hey, Tsunade? Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, brat."

"C-Can..." Blue eyes darted to his lap. "Will you teach Sakura-chan? Kakashi-sensei is going to be busy with Sasuke, and he won't teach her..."

Tsunade ruffled his hair lovingly. "We'll see, Naruto. I will come with you to training tomorrow and observe her. How does that sound?"

Uzumaki Naruto grinned happily at the older woman. "Great! Can I go tell Sakura right now? I promise to stay in the hospital, and I'll be right back!"

"I guess." The doctor sighed as the boy jumped up. "If you care, Sasuke is also getting out tomorrow. And if you see Kakashi, tell him that I need to speak with him- and it is urgent."

He nodded, not questioning her motives. He knew when not to ask questions. "I'll see you later, Ero-sennin!"

Before the old man could say anything, however, the blond dashed out of the room towards Sasuke's room. It was just a few doors down from his, and he knocked rapidly on the door. He slowly peeked his head in the room and saw the rest of his team in the room. Sakura looked up and gave a small gasp.

"Naruto!" She seemed quite surprised to see him. "Did you get out of the hospital already?"

He shook his head. "No. I get out tomorrow, along with the bastard over there." Said raven glared menacingly at him. "I... I just needed to talk to you, Sakura. Just right quick; privately."

The pink haired girl looked back at Sasuke, then at Naruto. After a moment, she frowned. "Why can't you tell me now?"

Naruto bit his bottom lip. "Fine... Uhm... I asked Tsunade if she would be willing... to... teach you. She said that she would have to watch you tomorrow while we train."

"Why would she do that?"

Naruto fidgeted at this. "Well... This is why I wanted to talk in private..." He slowly stepped into the room and closed the door. "I figured that Kakashi would spend most of his time training Sasuke, like he always does, so... I just... kind of thought that you would want your own teacher."

Sakura gave him a smile. "That was nice of you, Naruto."

Instead of immediately replying to her, Naruto watched Kakashi's reaction. By the way he somewhat tensed, Naruto guessed that the Copy Nin knew he was telling the truth. "Yeah. I guess." He found that he was somewhat sad that no one asked about himself.

"Then what about you, Naruto?" Sakura asked after a moment of silence. "As you said so yourself, you'd be training alone."

His spirits slightly picked themselves off the floor. "I'll be all right," he replied. "I can train by myself, like I have before. I still need to work on Rasengan anyway."

_**Lies**_, his mind told him. He forced a grin to show he had no inner turmoil. He could show them he was not lying.

"Oh. Okay."

Lie accepted. _Just like that_.

"Tsunade wanted to talk to you, Kakashi," Naruto told the Jounin, eager to get the topic away from him. "She said it was urgent."

He pushed away from the wall and strode towards the door. "Where was she at?"

"My room, the last time I saw her."

With a nod, the man was gone.

"So... Naruto," Sakura said, if only to break the silence. "How are you feeling?"

The blond only shrugged and turned towards the door. "It doesn't matter. I'll leave you two to be alone."

Sasuke still glared at the blond, angry with him for more reasons than one. Sakura seemed joyous at the suggestion and waited impatiently for the boy to leave.

With a small wave, Naruto left the room to go back to his. Upon reaching it, he realized that the older shinobi had moved off somewhere else. His single room was silent, and it unnerved him only slightly.

He couldn't wait for tomorrow to come.

* * *

"Ready to come to our training, Tsunade-baa-chan?" Naruto asked excitedly as he bounced around in the Hokage's office. "We have about five minutes to get there-"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she replied as she signed one last paper. "Lead the way, brat."

The two quickly made their way towards the training ground and found that they were the last to arrive- besides Kakashi of course. However, he came not too long after Naruto and Tsunade had arrived.

Naruto figured that Tsunade had threatened him to come early or something.

"Sakura and Naruto, I want you two to spar. Sasuke, come with me," Kakashi ordered, moving away from the other two.

The blond boy gave a look towards Sakura, as if saying, "_See? I told you so_."

However, the two Genin moved into position and silently started their sparing.

Before they could get too far, Tsunade stopped them. "Your forms are terrible. What has Kakashi been teaching you?"

Both students looked at each other, then back at Tsunade. "Not much, really. We didn't even learn Chakra control until the Wave mission."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "I asked Ino when they learned Chakra control, and she said it was one of the first things that they did."

The doctor glared at the spot where Kakashi and Sasuke had disappeared. "Naruto, remember to tell Jiraiya to work on your form. Sakura, I want you to show me your Chakra control. Naruto... You might as well work on your Rasengan. I'm sorry that I can't tell you what you are or are not doing wrong, since I can't do-"

"It's all right," Naruto told her with a blinding smile. "Really. Just work with Sakura. I really want you to teach her. She has potential."

"Fine." Tsunade sighed and motioned for Sakura to move towards the trees. "Show me what you've got."

Naruto smiled at the two, then went to his own little section of the training ground to work on his technique.

* * *

Kakashi and Sasuke came back near noon to find Naruto missing and Tsunade looking up at a tree with a smile. He looked up at the tree, but saw nothing but bark and limbs and leaves.

"Where are my students?"

Tsunade turned to the Jounin with a smile. "Naruto went to get lunch and Sakura is practicing her Chakra control.

"That's not what I told them to do."

"That's what _I_ told them to do."

Kakashi scowled. "I was led to believe that I was their teacher."

"And yet you aren't teaching them."

He could not argue with that fact.

Sakura dropped from the tree and landed in a crouch. "Shouldn't Naruto be back by now?"

"Sorry I took so long!" Naruto jogged into the area with a plastic bag filled with ramen containers. "Jiraiya stopped me. He just wanted to make some final plans with me." He brandished the bag- though carefully- and smiled. "I have lunch!"

"Don't you get tired of ramen?" Sakura asked as she took the bag from her teammate.

He shook his head with a grin on his face. "Nope!" He took his container from her hands and held it towards the heavens. "It is the food from the gods!" With great ceremony, he broke apart his chopsticks and shouted, "Itadakimasu!" before eating his lunch with vigor.

The other quickly followed his example, though less enthusiastically.

Suddenly, Tsunade spoke up. "Sakura, I am willing to become your teacher. You will start taking lessons next week, but you will still train with your team. Naruto, did you get everything sorted with Jiraiya?"

"Yes." This confused the other members of Team 7, but they would not ask with Tsunade there. "Is there paperwork?"

"There's _always_ paperwork, brat." She ruffled his hair and gave him her unfinished ramen. "Here. Speaking of paperwork, I still have some. Come by my office when you are through here."

Naruto nodded happily, gratefully accepting her ramen. "Sure thing!"

Soon after Tsunade left, Sakura took this chance to ask the question the other three were dying to ask. "Why do you need to fill out paperwork?"

"Hm?" Naruto swallowed and blinked at his female teammate. "Paperwork...? Oh! Right. Well, it's nothing important. It's just about the last mission I went on."

They became silent, avoiding each other's eyes. They knew what he was talking about: the Retrieve Sasuke mission. However, what they did not know was that he was lying.

"Well, let's get back to training," Kakashi ordered once they were done eating. He turned to Sasuke and Naruto. "Can you handle a spar without trying to kill each other?"

"Hn."

"Not really."

"Too bad." Kakashi pulled out his Icha Icha book and waved them away. "Do a three-way spar. Sakura against Naruto against Sasuke. Go."

* * *

A month later, Naruto stood up in his apartment. The sun was just rising, yet he had been up for at least an hour. He still had a few things to pack in boxes to keep safe and a few things to pack in his bag before leaving. A knock at his door reverberated through the small apartment, and he quickly went over to open it. Standing in the doorway was Jiraiya with a smile on his face.

"Ready to go?"

"I just need to take my plant to the Yamanaka flower shop," Naruto replied as he slung his pack on his back. Next, he picked up a rather large plant that looked well cared for. "I asked Ino yesterday, and she said she could look after it for me."

Jiraiya stepped out of the way for his new student. "Let's go, then. Did you tell your teammates you were leaving?"

"I have teammates?"

The older of the two gave the other a harsh look. "Don't act like that. Of course they are your teammates."

"Sure don't act like it."

Jiraiya locked the door for the Genin before following him towards the flower shop. "I know they weren't nice to you, Naruto, but they were still your teammates. You should-"

"They don't care about me!"

Jiraiya was taken aback by this. He stood two stairs above the blond, but the blond looked far more intimidating. "Naruto, I'm sure-"

Naruto cut him off again. "No one does."

He sounded so... hurt, to Jiraiya. His blue eyes held anger, pain, rejection. He had never wanted to see the boy like this, but here he was, holding back tears from years of unfairness.

"I do, Naruto," the old man told him sincerely. "I'll prove it."

Naruto gave him a hard, untrusting look. "Let's go."

Jiraiya followed the boy silently, not wanting to make him blow up again. By the time they had reached the flower shop, Naruto was back to his normal, cheerful self.

So he seemed.

When he knocked on the door, a blonde girl quickly opened it. She smiled softly at Naruto and took the plant. "Do you have any special requests?"

"Just talk to the plant," Naruto replied with a small smile. "Tell it how your day was, how your team is, stuff like that. Just ten minutes of your time."

Ino smiled right back. "Will do, Naruto."

"And another thing."

"Yeah?"

"Don't... tell anyone, will you?" Naruto shifted from foot to foot nervously. "I'd rather not have people know that I talked to you before I left. Not that I am ashamed!" he said quickly as he saw her hurt expression. "It's just that the others will be angry that I didn't say goodbye..."

Ino's smiled again. "It's okay. I'll keep it secret for you."

"Thanks. I'll see you in a few years, yeah?"

"Just come back alive, all right?"

"Gotcha."

Jiraiya smirked as Naruto came out of the shop. He whistled as they walked away, glancing down at his new victim- _**student**_. "She's kind of cute."

"You're too old for her, pervert."

"I was talking about for _you_, brat."

"I don't know her that well."

The Toad Sage rolled his eyes. "Right."

They stopped in front of the gates, Tsunade and Shizune waiting for them. The gates were only opened part way, but just enough for Jiraiya to walk through.

"Come back alive, all right?" Tsunade smiled at her two favorite men. "And don't forget to write every once in a while."

Jiraiya just scoffed, but smiled at his ex-teammate. He walked through the gate with a slight wave.

Naruto, however, nodded with a determined grin. "I promise to write when I can."

She ruffled his hair, something he was getting a little annoyed with. Nonetheless, he enjoyed it.

"Get going before Jiraiya leaves you."

He gave her a fox-like smile and gave a thumbs up to both women. "See you in a few years!"

Tsunade sighed as the gates closed behind the two men. With a crooked smile, she said, "He has kind of changed, hasn't he?"

"Is that good or bad?" the raven replied as they walked back to the Hokage Tower.

The medic thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Not sure. He's a lot more serious than he should be."

"Maybe the fight with Sasuke changed him," Shizune suggested. "He _did_ suffer some trauma."

"Maybe," was all the blonde replied with.


	2. Somewhere Here

"You know, I kind of don't want to go back."

"If you want to become a missing Nin, it's fine with me."

"But..." A soft, tired sigh escaped past chapped lips. "I kind of left on a bad note."

A rough hand pushed into the lethargic boy, knocking him slightly off balance. "Your own fault, brat. Now get through those gates before I throw you through."

The teen pouted, but walked through the gates. Over the two and a half years he had been gone, he had gone through many changes. One of the most notable- and surprising- was his calm attitude. He still had that wild, feral look in his bright blue eyes, however, but it had not seemed as daunting as it did now. His skin was darker from the long hours of training outdoors, and his blond hair was longer.

If one were smart, they would not trifle with him.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"Shut up, Ero-sennin."

"That hurts, you know. Deep down."

The teen scoffed. "Yeah, right. You will go talk to Granny, right? I need to go get my plant from the flower shop."

"Yeah, yeah. Go do that."

The two separated paths, both looking slightly forlorn in their own way. The younger of the two held his chin up like he always had, and he looked down on the other villagers with a look of disdain. Many shied away from him in trepidation, though were not apprehensive enough to look away from this somewhat stranger. Instead, they gazed upon him in wonder at the conundrum in front of them.

_Just who was this man?_

A small tinkling sounded through the small shop as he pushed open the door. He smiled softly at the woman standing at the counter reading a magazine. "Welcome to Yamanaka Flower Shop. If you need any help, just ask."

She sounded listless.

"Actually," he said, "I _am_ looking for something. I need a flower that says, 'Thank you for watching my plant while I was away training.'"

The woman lifted her head so quickly, the young man was sure she had whiplash. Her blue eyes widened as she saw the orange-clad shinobi standing in front of her. "Naruto? Is that really you?"

"If you are Ino, then yes," he replied. "My plant didn't die... Did it?"

"The strangest thing..." she said as she disappeared towards the greenhouse-type structure, her voice carrying back to Naruto as she walked away. "It kind of wilted for the first week or two, but I watered it and talked to it like you told me to. It didn't die! It's still healthy. I finally told it that you would be back in two and a half years, and it seemed to perk up." Ino came back with the plant in her arms.

Naruto took the plant from her and held it in one arm while stroking the leaves with the other. "Did you miss me, friend? I'm sorry I had to be away for so long, but I have a lot of adventures to tell you!" He said this in a soft voice- very unlike himself.

Ino was quite shocked at this change in the teen. She was not sure if it was a pleasant surprise or not, but it made her smile to see this side of Naruto. "You've changed."

"I have?" He hummed a little and then shrugged. "How did the others react when they found out that I had left?"

It was her turn to shrug. "Chouji and Kiba thought you went missing-nin on us, Sakura looked a little guilty after a few weeks, and Lee was devastated. It was a little crazy after you left."

The teenaged boy saw that the girl was just itching to tell him something. "Anything else that I missed?"

She smiled at his question. "Everyone got stronger, Naruto. Not just you. We are all Chuunin, now, and Neji, TenTen, and Shino are Jounin now."

"So that means I'm the only Genin of our class..."

The girl laughed. "It's all right." Suddenly, she looked ashamed. "Naruto... There is something you need to know."

"Okay... I can take anything you throw at me."

"Do you still like Sakura?"

A shocked look came from the boy. "No... Should I?"

This confused Ino, but she decided that she would press into that matter later. "Well... She is going out with Sasuke."

"Oh." A strained silence filled the store. "I see."

"Since when did you stop liking her?"

"Since when did you stop liking Sasuke?"

The girl glared. "I asked first."

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know if I ever really liked her. It was to make me seem normal."

"What do you mean by that?"

He shook his head. "No, never mind. But I guess I really stopped 'liking' her a week before I last got out of the hospital."

Ino nodded slowly, her eyes resting on his feet. "I stopped liking Sasuke a little after you left. I realized that he would never fall for me. It was hopeless." She looked up at his bright blue eyes. "How much stronger have you gotten?"

Naruto shrugged, then shook his head. "I don't know. I would say that I have gotten stronger, and I hope that I have, but you never know. You all could have surpassed me in some aspects of becoming a shinobi, while I excel in other areas, like sealing."

"I'd like to see it sometime." She smiled at him and hopped down from the counter. "When was the last time you ate?"

He blinked once, twice. "Ate? Maybe yesterday at noon. Why?"

"You look hungry," she replied with a shrug. "Eat lunch with me and my team. I'm supposed to be meeting with them, anyway."

"I shouldn't impose-"

Ino grinned down at him. "You aren't imposing if I invited you, right?"

His head fell in defeat. "I guess..."

The girl saddened at this. "Do you really hate us that much...?"

"No, no!" The blond's arms waved around wildly, reminding Ino of a twelve-year-old boy a few years back. "It's just... It's just that it has been Ero-sennin and me for the past two years. That, and you were the only one I said goodbye to. I just don't know how to act around them."

"Act normal?"

"And what, pray tell, is normal?" He waved a hand in the air. "Tired, lost, hungry, and attention-starved? Or blithe, bright, and energetic?"

She frowned at the blond. "Maybe the blithe, bright, and energetic one. It might confuse people less."

"Ah." He nodded, like he understood. Maybe he understood all too well.

Ino did not like that thought.

"Mom! I'm going to go eat with my team, now!" she yelled up the stairs. "I'll be back later!"

Quickly, the two left the shop and headed towards the restaurant. However, before they got too far, Naruto stopped, made a clone, and gave the plant to it. When Ino gave him a look, he said, "Much faster than going to my apartment first, or taking it with us."

The two continued their trek towards the famous barbeque place that Team Ten could often be found at. Naruto did not complain as the building came into sight, but he did not look too happy, either. Ino said nothing as they entered and sat down at the table her team sat in. The three males on her team were already there, plus Temari, waiting for the meat to cook in front of them. Naruto cautiously sat down, looking wearily at the others.

"Hey, guys. Long time no see?"

"I just saw you last week," Temari said with a grin. She suddenly frowned. "How did we get here before you if we left after you?"

Naruto shrugged languidly. "We had to stop through the Bird Country for something. Did you get here yesterday?"

Temari nodded slowly. "Gaara said you left something." She pulled out a small box and held it out towards him.

The group watched, curious, as Naruto's eyes widened.

He quickly shook his head. "That was for him."

"Naruto...?" That was Chouji. He stared at the blond, incredulous. "You're back!"

A blond eyebrow rose. "I heard that you thought I went missing-nin."

Chouji blushed. "Well... Yeah. You just kind of... left."

"He had to," Shikamaru said, giving his friends a, 'duh', look. "We were holding him back."

The five others looked at the genius, amazed, while Naruto looked fearful, as well. "How did you know?"

"It was the most logical thing to do," was the only answer they got.

Finally, the meat was done cooking and the large group started eating. Naruto just hoped that they would not ask him questions.

How futile that was.

"Have you seen the others yet?" Temari asked after a long minute of silence.

"Just Ino. I had to go get my plant. She _was_ the only one I said goodbye to."

"Why _didn't_ you say goodbye to the rest of us?" Chouji asked, hurt.

Again, Naruto shrugged. "I needed someone to take care of my plant, and I figured I would say goodbye to her since she was helping me out. Eh... I didn't think that you guys would mind all that much."

"May I ask a question, Naruto?" Asuma asked, speaking for the first time since the blond had arrived with his female teammate. When he nodded, the adult continued. "How far have you gotten on your wind techniques?"

At this, Naruto's eyes brightened. He became lively as he explained his theories, plans, and experiments to the man, leaving the teenagers baffled at this side of Naruto. Just moments ago, he had looked exhausted and sad. Now, however, he looked blithe and alive. This left the teenagers confused at the enigma.

Suddenly, Naruto shut up and stared wide eyed out the window. He quickly ducked under the table and scooted back to where no one would be able to see him. "I'm not here, guys."

The others looked out the window and saw Sakura and Sasuke staring at them, confused. Instead of continuing their journey, they came in after a few words from Sakura.

"Did they leave?" Naruto whispered from under the table.

"They are coming in," Temari whispered back, just as the couple opened the door.

The two came up to the table, frowning. "We thought we saw Naruto."

Ino rose an eyebrow. "We haven't seen him. Are you sure you haven't been training too much, or working too many shifts at the hospital?"

Sakura shook her head. "I was so sure... Why is there an extra pair of chopsticks, then?"

"I dropped mine on the floor," Ino replied quickly. "So... Where were you two headed?"

"I needed to see Tsunade-sama about something," Sasuke replied. He turned back towards the door. "Oh well. The dobe probably _has_ gone missing. He's been gone this long."

"Bastard!"

The table went silent, all eyes wide except for Sasuke, whose dark eyes narrowed. He crouched down and saw Naruto hiding under the table.

"Huh. You really are here."

"And not very happy about it."

"Naruto?" Sakura's soft voice came as she bent down. Her eyes showed confusion. "Why are you hiding from us?"

He swallowed, but stayed under the table. "I thought you would hate me, because I didn't say goodbye."

"You are forgi-"

"I'm not saying sorry."

Again, they froze at his harsh words. Then, Sakura sighed and stood up.

"I understand."

"No, you don't."

He crawled out from under the table and stood up, brushing the dust from his hands. Sasuke stood as well, though stepped back to give the temperamental blond some room.

"But shouldn't you?"

Naruto scoffed. "You learned nothing while I was away... Ino said you looked guilty a few weeks after I left, but I see no guilt." His eyes saddened and he looked away from his old teammates. He reached into his pocket, making the other flinch, and pulled out an old, warn bill. "This is all I have. Will this cover my part of the meal?"

"You hardly ate," Ino pointed out.

"I'm not hungry." He placed the money on the table and gave a half smile. "I should go say hi to Granny. She might have missed me while I was gone."

"Naruto, wait-"

But the boy disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Sakura frowned, very confused. "Why doesn't he want to talk to us?"

"I don't know," Ino replied, standing as well and placing her share of money on the table. "Maybe because he doesn't know how. I should go, too. I need to get back to the shop. See you later, guys."

The six stayed in an awkward silence for a moment as each digested all that had just happened. Finally, Sasuke sighed and walked out. Sakura followed after him, still frowning.

"I still hate him."

"Because he brought you back?" Sakura sounded hurt at her boyfriend's comment.

The raven haired teen shook his head. "No. Because he is stronger than me."

They soon made it to the Hokage Tower, and they stood outside of Tsunade's office. However, before they knocked, they heard Naruto yelling.

"You can't keep me locked up!" he yelled. "I did nothing wrong!

"I know that, brat," Jiraiya said seriously. "The three-year mark is approaching. Both Sasuke and Naruto are in trouble."

"I'm right here! Don't talk as if I am not in the same room as you!"

"Stop yelling!" Tsunade yelled at him. "Do you want the whole village to know that you are wanted by Akatsuki?"

Sakura glanced over at Sasuke to see him as shocked as she felt. He never showed his emotions much, but if he was taken by surprise, he showed it.

"I wasn't saying we lock you away," Jiraiya told the boy calmly. "I was just saying that you should lay low for a little bit."

"And what- run away?" Naruto asked sarcastically. "Yeah- _that_ will work. I don't run away."

"You run in head first."

The room was silent for a moment, then Naruto started laughing.

"That's the best idea you've come up with, Ero-sennin!"

"Now, Naruto- Wait!"

The sound of glass breaking startled the couple in the hallway. Several curses flowed through the room behind the door as they continued to listen.

"Naruto, get back here!" A frustrated sigh followed. "Jiraiya, go after him!"

After a moment of silence, Sakura cautiously knocked on the door. She swallowed nervously as she was let in. To their surprise, Naruto stood in front of Tsunade's desk while Jiraiya leaned against the wall behind Tsunade. None of the windows were shattered.

"Was that a-"

"Genjutsu, yes," Tsunade interrupted, her arms crossed over her chest. "What do you think?"

Sakura's eyes widened and tears threatened to spill. "Naruto..."

The blond rolled his eyes. "Save it for someone who cares. I'm out of here."

"Where are you going?"

"Suna," Naruto replied with a grin towards his rival. "Where else?" He held up a box. "I have to get away from Akatsuki, don't I? And I have to give this to the Kazekage. I'll be back whenever. Bye, Ero-sennin, Tsunade-chan!"

He jumped out of the window, shattering it for real this time.

"**NARUTO**!"


End file.
